A thought-provoking pair of explorations into beauty and ethnic/racial identity: earlier in 2014, journalist Esther Honig sent a self portrait to photoshop artists across the world asking them to "make her beautiful". 

The results, perhaps unsurprisingly, reveal the impact of culture and ethnicity and a huge variety of beauty ideals/standards. http://www.estherhonig.com/#!before--after-/cvkn 

Now, biracial journalist Priscilla Yuki Wilson does the same with very different results. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/priscilla-yuki-wilson-different-countries-photoshop_n_5775200.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

NOVEMBER  21ST, 2011   |  Vol. 23 |   Issue 45  |  Circulation: 100,000   An Australian Definition of a Canadian    You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report a few years back that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian. An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one: A Canadian can be English or French or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan. A Canadian may also be a Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which recognized the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness. A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds. But they also welcome the least - the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected. These are the people who built Canada. You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried, but in doing so, you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.

 http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Insight--An-Australian-Definition-of-a-Canadian.html?soid=1102455566531&aid=0J4foCmVjgY

In March 2013, David Brown who is Managing Editor at Marketing Magazine asked me to write an article about the best multicultural advertising in the world - or to put it more simply, the best advertising in the world.

I said yes, of course, sensing an opportunity to let loose one of my favourite rants. You see, audiences exposed to advertising of Cannes-dominating stature in their home countries immigrate to Canada only to discover that they are being addressed like idiots. (If immigrants were so stupid, why would they have picked Canada?) And do marketers imagine that immigrants from the largest television and online media consumption markets in the world don’t notice their lack of commitment to connect with them in those media here — or the substandard, step-sisterly low-budget production values when they do? Etc etc.

Well, I worked myself up into a pretty lather. Probably as close as I will ever come to being the man your man wants to be aka Isaiah Mustafa.

Anyway, here's a link to the full article, on Marketing Magazine's website.
Enjoy.

And if you like to see how we carry the torch for intelligent multicultural creative here in Canada, click here to view our multicultural work on our website.

Peace.

Ever since I worked with Bruno Barbey in the mid-90s I have been fascinated with the photographic resplendence radiated by all things Moroccan. Imagine my delight when photographer friend and collaborator Richard Picton drew my attention to the extraordinary vibrant work of the Morocco-born Londoner, Hassan Hajaj, in a Guardian photo feature. With self-assembled frames made from rubber, cloth, plastic, toys, tile and popcans, and portraits that are equal measures of pigment, people and pattern, Hajaj dazzles the heart of the eye where colour lives.

Shared with me by noted photographer Richard Picton, this typographic development is a worthy addition to the centuries-old interaction between the English language and Indian languages.

The Hinglish Project helps English-speaking tourists wrap their heads around the unfamiliar Devanagari script so often seen across the top half of the subcontinent.

And it's free to download. Enjoy, font hoarders.

The Hinglish Project | Type for you.:

'via Blog this'

It's funny, but I haven't addressed multicultural photography much on this blog. It's about time I rectified that. There is brilliant stuff out there. In fact, the best photography has always been truly multicultural. From Steve McCurry's Afghan girl  to Penn's Chinese food and Salgado's Brazilian miners and Indian ship-graveyard-workers, to the work Richard Picton has done for us and others (his black women boxers will knock you out) to Chen Man's 12-month ode to Chinese beauty for the cover of i-D magazine on the occasion of the Year of the Dragon. Without further ado, here is a sampling of Chen Man's work. More photography posts to follow. I promise. Enjoy, but you might have to send your eyes to detox later. I mean that in a drugs-are-good kind of way. Speaking strictly as a non-user.





Via It's Nice That
Photos via The Bohmerian

All copyright belongs to the artists/owners of the copyrights themselves.

The Irani restaurant is one of Bombay's great multicultural traditions, serving hearty working-class meals, hot tea and colonial throwbacks like bread pudding studded with sultanas. Irani restauranteurs demanded tolerance and mutual respect from their multi-faith clientele; demands were typically delivered via idiosyncratic exhortations hand-lettered on placards and strategically placed in key areas - at the cashier (No Bargaining), over mirrors (No Hair Combing), on the menu (No Beef), - and my favourite - on walls, mirrors or wherever space allowed (All Gods are Great).

To honour the spirit of this supreme Irani restaurant directive, I thought I would celebrate with a gallery of good and/or provocative festival advertising for this holiday season post - a sort of "best of all gods" approach. I hope you enjoy them (let me know which ones are your favourites - or send in your own). A Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, A Chillin' Kwanzaa and a Freakin' Fantastic Festivus to you.

Or whatever particular wish rings your bell, rocks your boat, or turns your crank baby.












This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.